DPP launches task forces to prepare for elections

By Chris Wang / Staff reporter

Thu, Oct 03, 2013 - Page 3

In preparation for the seven-in-one elections next year, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday established three task forces to deal with candidate nominations and public opinion polls, the party said.

Candidate exploratory committees for the Taipei City and New Taipei City (新北市) mayoral elections, as well as a public opinion poll committee, were established after the party’s Central Standing Committee meeting yesterday, DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.

The establishment of the exploratory committees marked the official beginning of the process of the DPP primaries, despite several aspirant candidates expressing an interest in entering the races in the two cities, who are seen as important constituencies in the six special municipality elections.

Lin added that both committees would consist of six members, with the Taipei City committee being headed by DPP Legislator Tuan Yi-kang (段宜康) and the New Taipei City committee led by DPP Legislator Gao Jyh-peng (高志鵬).

The committees are to begin inquiries about aspirant candidates and explore candidates’ election platforms before finalizing the candidate lists.

Intra-party competition in both cities appears to have been heating up, with former premier Yu Shyi-kun becoming the first candidate to announce his mayoral bid in New Taipei City last week and several intriguing figures expressing a strong interest in running in the capital. They include former vice president Annette Lu (呂秀蓮), lawyer Wellington Koo (顧立雄), incumbent lawmaker Hsu Tain-tsair (許添財) and National Taiwan University Hospital physician Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), a pro-DPP independent.

According to the DPP primary regulations, DPP headquarters will conduct negotiations in constituencies with two or more aspiring candidates if private negotiations between them fail.

If all negotiation attempts fail, public opinion polls will be held to determine the final candidate in affected constituencies.

The committee on public opinion polls in the primary, which consists of four academics and DPP secretary-general Lin Hsi-yao (林錫耀) serving as convener, was established as a precautionary measure in case of survey disputes between aspirants, the spokesperson said.